Every year, the Nominating Committee begins a familiar dance: assessing who is returning, who is rotating off the Board, and beginning the delicate process of “the ask.” This year, that process led us to a profound realization about the future of our congregation and the sustainability of our leadership.

The criteria for Board President are high, requiring institutional knowledge, administrative skill, and the ability to honor multiple truths. Even with a dedicated Board, the President remains the primary endpoint for communication, delegation, and conflict resolution. This year, we approached three highly qualified individuals. Each possessed the talent we needed, yet each declined for remarkably similar reasons:

• Workload & Family: The sheer volume of the role felt incompatible with current family priorities.
• Mismatched Skill Sets: Individuals felt confident in certain areas—such as people skills—but wary of others, like legal paperwork or tech requirements.
• The Weight of the Office: The “on-call” nature of being a sole president felt like a recipe for burnout.

Taking on leadership is an act of radical generosity. We found ourselves asking: How do we make this generosity doable? If we want our leadership to represent all demographics—including working parents and busy professionals—we must evolve. We want to move away from a model of individual power toward one of shared service.

To address these challenges, the Nominating Committee recommends a shift to allow for Co-Presidency, while maintaining a nine-member Board. This is a strategic move toward a healthier congregational culture with several key advantages:

• Complementary Strengths: We can pair leaders whose skills balance one another (e.g., governance paired with community engagement).
• Sustainability: Sharing the workload reduces fatigue and keeps volunteers engaged.
• Built-in Support: Shared responsibility allows leaders to tend to family or vacations without congregational operations coming to a halt.
• Honoring Elders: A deeper leadership bench allows seasoned leaders to transition into mentoring roles rather than serving out of a heavy sense of obligation.

A review of Massachusetts UU societies shows that some utilize a co-presidency or “President-Elect” model to ensure stability. While our current bylaws do not explicitly exclude this, we will request a formal exception to officially allow the election of Co-Presidents for 2026-2027.

Under this model, a covenant would be created between the Co-Presidents with clearly delineated areas of focus. Before the Annual Meeting in 2027, the Board and Nominating Committee will evaluate if this is a feasible permanent model. We will also continue reviewing our bylaws to ensure long-term sustainability, potentially staggering term lengths to build for the future.  We will also take a close look at the balance of officers and trustees serving on the Board.

By making leadership more accessible, we aren’t just filling a vacancy; we are opening the door for a wider, more diverse group of voices to lead our next chapter. We look forward to discussing this proposal further at our Money Matters meeting on May 24th.